VIDEO: Sixty years ago this week, one of the largest aviation disasters of its time happened in Chicago’s suburbs when a flight from Midway Airport went down minutes after take-off.
Few may remember the tragedy.
It was September 1, 1961. TWA Flight 529 was hopscotching across the country. It had just taken off from Midway Airport and was headed for Las Vegas.
Frank Trout was a 17-year-old volunteer firefighter back then.
Just after 2 a.m., the siren sounded and summoned his squad to a farm field just West of Route 83.
“We were totally unprepared for anything like this,” Trout said. “We went looking for anyone who was alive. Some people were still strapped in their seats.”
All 78 souls aboard died that day. It was, at the time, the deadliest single-plane disaster in US history. And it happened near the height of the U.S. crisis with Cuba.